What is complex (developmental) trauma or CPTSD?
Complex or developmental trauma is a type of trauma that occurs over a prolonged period of time, often in childhood, and involves repeated exposure to harmful events. This can include physical, emotional, verbal or sexual abuse, neglect, or witnessing violence. These types of difficulties and neglectful experiences disrupt natural development and make us adapt to our environment by creating strategies for survival. In a sense, we learn who we need to be in order to survive in our families of origin.
We all have a genius survival mechanism within us. Mechanisms that helps us adapt to our failing environment, exert a sense of control, and create stability (in the best way we know how) in otherwise unsafe and unpredictable environment.
Unlike acute trauma, which often results from a single, isolated event, CPTSD develops over time and can have a profound impact on an individual's mental health, relationships, sense of self, and overall well-being. The insidious consequences of childhood trauma don’t go away on their own once we become adults. We tend to carry these experiences and adaptations into adulthood, which is when we notice that our past seems to have a hand in our present.
What Are The Symptoms of CPTSD?
Recognizing the signs of CPTSD can be challenging, as they can manifest in various ways. Here are some common indicators:
Emotional dysregulation: Difficulty managing emotions, leading to frequent outbursts, excessive anger, or numbness; feeling easily overwhelmed by our internal experiences.
Re-experiencing symptoms: Flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive thoughts related to traumatic events, orienting towards past experiences, and having strong emotional reactions to memories as if you are reliving them in the present.
Avoidance: Avoiding people, places, or activities that trigger memories of the trauma. Avoidance is an attempt to control and not experiences feelings we deem overwhelming and distressing.
Hyperarousal: Feeling constantly on edge, tense, easily startled, having trouble sleeping, struggling to rest, and truly relax. Having a sense that you’e constantly bracing yourself for when “the other shoes will drop” or feeling like you’re “walking on eggshells.”
Dissociation: Feeling disconnected from oneself or the world as a way to cope with trauma. This can show up as a sense of emptiness, and feeling disconnected from what is happening in or around you.
Negative self-beliefs: When we internalize the continued abuse, neglect, and criticism from an early age, we learn to treat ourselves in the same way were once treated: as unworthy and unloveable. This tends to show up through perpetual low self-esteem, feelings of shame or guilt, people pleasing, self-doubt, negative self-image, and self-judgment.
Difficulty with relationships: Struggling to trust others or form healthy attachments, not feeling a sense of belonging, feeling more comfortable alone and in isolation.
Physical symptoms: Chronic pain, fatigue, or digestive problems.
Questions to Reflect on:
Who did you have to be in your family of origin?
What parts of yourself did you have to neglect or which parts you had to disconnect from in order to survive?
What would it feel like to let those parts back into your life now?
It's important to note that these are just some of the potential signs of CPTSD, and individual experiences may vary. If you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms, it's essential to seek professional help from a therapist or mental health provider who specializes in trauma. They can provide support, guidance, and effective treatment options. Note that trauma is not something we can talk ourselves out of or will ourselves out of. Healing from complex trauma is a non-linear process that requires patience, compassion, time, and safe guidance.